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8 Great Guns for the Zombie Apocalypse

So the zombies are at your door. Death is upon you, but the gun shop is just a block away. You make a run for it, and you make it to the most extensive armory for miles. Time to make a decision: Which guns do you grab? Contrary to popular belief, not every gun will do the job the same, so to help make up your mind on which guns will save your life, here are my eight best guns for the zombie apocalypse.

GALLERY: 8 Great Guns for the Zombie Apocalypse

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<h2>Glock 17</h2>Without a doubt, the Glock G17 tops the list. It is dead-simple to use, but unusable by the undead. Anyone alive can figure it out -- you can train your family on it in ten minutes. It is durable, ubiquitous and it takes perhaps the most common ammunition on the planet: 9mm Parabellum. Magazines hold an ample supply of skull-popping ammo. You do have to keep one thing in mind, though, while scavenging for ammo, magazines and spare parts in an abandoned police station; the G22 is just as common, but the magazines and some internal parts won’t work in your 9mm. Mixing 9mm and 40 cal magazines in your inventory, without proper markings will get your medulla oblongata munched.

<h2>Glock 17</h2>Without a doubt, the Glock G17 tops the list. It is dead-simple to use, but unusable by the undead. Anyone alive can figure it out -- you can train your family on it in ten minutes. It is durable, ubiquitous and it takes perhaps the most common ammunition on the planet: 9mm Parabellum. Magazines hold an ample supply of skull-popping ammo. You do have to keep one thing in mind, though, while scavenging for ammo, magazines and spare parts in an abandoned police station; the G22 is just as common, but the magazines and some internal parts won’t work in your 9mm. Mixing 9mm and 40 cal magazines in your inventory, without proper markings will get your medulla oblongata munched.

<h2>Marlin 1894 CB</h2>A Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum will make a world of difference over the same model in a .32 H&R Magnum. Besides taking the more common ammo, the Marlin in .44 will do wonders against fast-moving zombies, allowing you to anchor the flesh-eaters with some pelvic or thigh shots.

<h2>AR-15</h2>What else but the AR-15? Not the M16 or M4, unless you are very disciplined about keeping the selector to Semi instead of giggle. Especially if you are faced with a street full of zombies, you don’t want to go wasting ammo, making noise instead of composted zombies. And you want one lightweight, handy, durable, and with a light on it. No oddball calibers -- sorry, fans of the 6.5 Grendel or .300 Blackout -- but one that will take plentiful .223/5.56.

<h2>Smith & Wesson Model 59</h2>My second choice for handguns would be any of the Smith & Wesson Model 59 series of 9mms. Again, common ammo, huge supply of magazines, and easy to use. Just remember; the 59 and its successors have a slide-mounted safety. Don’t get caught with your lever down, when the undead come out to play/

<h2>Henry Big Boy</h2>Zombies are probably the last thing the cowboys and frontiersman had in mind while carrying this classic, but the Henry Big Boy in .44 Mag, .45 Colt or .357 Magnum is another excellent choice. The .357 takes precedent over other calibers, however, offering softer shooting while you pop some zombie skulls.

<h2>FN PS90</h2>Another excellent rifle choice would be the FN PS90 in 5.7X28. While ammo and magazines would be harder to locate, the negligible recoil would be a big asset.

<h2>Browning Auto-5</h2>The premier shotgun for me would be a Browning Auto 5. In a couple of decades of gunsmithing, I lost count of the Remington 1100s that came in needing work. But A5s? It took real talent to screw one of them up enough to make it stop working. And yes, Virginia, you can get magazine extension tubes for the A5.

<h2>Remington 870</h2>My second choice for shotguns would be an 870, and it would most certainly have an extended magazine tube. If at all possible, it would have a Vang choke job done to it, so I’d have tight and consistent buckshot patterns out to a useful distance.